Former University of Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun listens as Kevin Ollie, who was named UConn's 18th head coach, addresses the media at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn. on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012.
Photo: Autumn Driscoll

Former University of Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun listens as Kevin...

This Feb. 18, 2012 file photo shows assistant coach Kevin Ollie and associate head coach George Blaney during the first half of a college basketball game against Marquette, in Hartford, Conn. on Feb. 18, 2012. Ollie was named the team's new head coach Thursday afternoon, Sept. 13, 2012. Blaney, who has served as Jim Calhoun's top assistant at Connecticut for the past 11 seasons, says he plans to stay on as the team's associate head coach.
Photo: Jessica Hill, AP/file Photo

This Feb. 18, 2012 file photo shows assistant coach Kevin Ollie...

Kevin Ollie's daughter, Cheyenne and wife, Stephanie listen as Ollie is named University Of Connecticut basketball coach at a news conference where basketball coach Jim Calhoun announced his retirement on September 13, 2012 in Storrs, Conn.
Photo: Autumn Driscoll

STORRS -- Seven years ago, maybe to the day, Jim Calhoun's most talented team scrimmaged in the student gymnasium.

There were four future NBA millionaires on the court: Rudy Gay has grown into one of the best wing players in the world. Hilton Armstrong and Josh Boone would be drafted in the first round the following summer, as would Marcus Williams, a lefty point guard with a smooth stroke and uncanny vision.

Marcus Williams got torched that afternoon.

There was this other point guard, shirtless, about Williams' height, with a grown man's physique. His entire upper body -- ripped in the chest and abdomen -- glowed with sweat. You could see him shining from 50 feet away. No one looked like this guy, and no one, including Williams, could guard him.

He got to the paint with ease, either finishing the lay-up or dishing off to a teammate. He dogged Williams all over, rarely allowing him space to shoot.

The consensus among those watching: This tenacious, muscle-bound point guard was on a different level.

But nobody had any idea who he was.

Today, at age 39, he's slimmed down, his arms and calves not as powerful as they once were. It's been two years since he retired from professional basketball. And it's been three days since he was named head coach at the University of Connecticut.

Kevin Ollie stole the show Thursday at Gampel Pavilion, the raw emotion of his speech upstaging the retirement of legendary coach Jim Calhoun. Everything Ollie said was just so real: calling Calhoun his "second father;" describing his recruiting visit to UConn two decades ago, how he wore an L.A. hat and sipped on a milkshake; telling the Gampel audience about walking his daughter, Cheyenne, down the hill to the bus stop with their dog.

"That's the best time of the day right there," Ollie said, fighting back tears.

And to his son, Jalen: "You're the reason I am who I am. When you were born, being bed-stricken for six weeks, you were tough. I changed my life because of you. You gave me that strength to say I can make it."

`My dream job'

All those stories, straight from the heart, provided glimpses into the life of Connecticut's newest high-profile public figure. His voice trembled when he hit certain topics, making it easy to believe one of the most overused sports cliches.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but right here," Ollie declared. "This is my dream job. I was made for this job."

Well, UConn athletic director Warde Manuel isn't convinced quite yet. Ollie's contract runs through April 4, 2013. After a thorough evaluation, Manuel will determine whether to renew the contract, thus making him Calhoun's permanent successor, or dump Ollie for a proven coach from an outside program. Forget the pressure of replacing one of the all-time greats, Ollie has to worry about simply keeping his job.

It's nothing new, and the story line is almost too obvious: Ollie overcame a tough Los Angeles neighborhood to earn a full ride to UConn in 1991. For three straight years, Calhoun "lined up someone to beat him out." It never happened.

Following his 1995 graduation, Ollie, 6-foot-3 with a limited offensive arsenal, went undrafted. He spent two years in the CBA before cracking the big leagues, where he stuck for 13 seasons.

"He's the hardest worker I know," said Ray Allen, his former college teammate, at Allen's basketball camp on Aug. 11. "Some guys get drafted in the first round and don't stay three years because they don't work hard. He's always been a great example."

Ollie used to live on 10-day NBA contracts, often waiting until Jan. 10 -- the date all contracts become guaranteed for the remainder of the season -- to have assurance. His wife, Stephanie, is accustomed to traveling.

He plays his new deal off as if he's been there before, but there is one major difference: Kevin Ollie has superstar potential as a head coach. He never had that as a player.

"I think you look at your players and you say, yep, he's got some special characteristics," Calhoun said. "You knew about Kevin Ollie right away."

Still, special characteristics don't equal a five-year contract without a track record. This is the biggest hire Manuel, the former Buffalo athletic director, has ever made. His job is on the line, too, so can you fault him for making sure he gets it right?

"This isn't Buffalo," Manuel said. "This is UConn. This is what Jim Calhoun built. I want to see what he's like as a head coach and be able to make a decision on the long term based on having some sense of what he's like. Jim (Calhoun) was a head coach for 14 years (at Northeastern) before he came here. I'm simply asking for this season to look at him prior to making a long-term commitment."

This season, Ollie has his work cut out. UConn lost two lottery picks (Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb) to the NBA and three transfers (Alex Oriakhi to Missouri, Roscoe Smith to UNLV and Michael Bradley to Vincennes University). A few weeks before he retired, Calhoun watched a scrimmage from Gampel and conceded that this "is not the most talented team we've ever had." There have been days, like that afternoon seven years ago, in which UConn had eight future pros on the court. This year's squad has maybe two or three.

UConn is also banned from the 2013 postseason, stirring up the question, first for Calhoun and now Ollie, "How can you motivate them?" Early Friday afternoon, as Niels Giffey and Tyler Olander awaited their first team meeting with Ollie as head coach, they offered a new explanation.

"We play for our coach this season," Giffey said. "We play for him to keep that job."

Added Olander, "I think that's a problem with too many institutions now, they give up on coaches too quickly when it's really not that easy to take a program and bring it back to national prominence. I think they should be patient with coach Ollie because he is great and he's always headed towards excellence."

Excellence, Ollie insisted, goes far beyond wins and losses. Everyone close to Ollie raves about his character: Former UConn assistant Howie Dickenman, who recruited him in the early 90s, tells the story about the Cleveland Cavaliers trading for Ollie so he could "teach LeBron James to be a pro," then Oklahoma City doing the same for Kevin Durant. Top-25 recruit Xavier Rathan Mayes says Ollie "cares about you as a person, and that's special to have in a coach."

Really, it's the foundation of the UConn program. Say what you want about Calhoun -- sure, he can get cranky after a loss -- but there's a reason so many ex-players visit Storrs in the summer. They all call it a "family," and Calhoun is truly the father.

"I love him," Ollie said. "I love him from the bottom of my heart."

Husky at heart

Stationed in Glastonbury throughout an NBA career that took him to 11 different cities, Ollie probably visited UConn more than anyone. He's played against every Husky point guard from Khalid El-Amin to Taliek Brown to Marcus Williams to A.J. Price and Kemba Walker. He hopes to be around for the next generation, too.

"The one thing I ask," he told his team Thursday, "is that you come back and help the other guys that we're trying to coach."

A day removed from his introduction, from all the hugs and the tears and the emotion that filled Gampel Pavilion, UConn's basketball facility was quiet. Players were gone, and Ollie, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and dress pants, shut his office door, starting toward the exit. He was in a hurry to get to his son's football game, the first of the year.

It had already been a long day: He worked out at 5 a.m. with his trainer, met with Manuel at 8 a.m., then his coaches and team the remainder of the day. Calhoun even stopped by at one point and said, "Is it OK if an outsider comes in?"

"He's always welcome," Ollie said with a laugh.

In between meetings, he briefly left Gampel for a salad, which he usually does uninterrupted. This time, though, he was stopped by students, greeted with a "hey, coach" and "congratulations." And he can get used to that.

"If it's two months, one month, this is where I want to be," Ollie said. "Until they tell me to, I'm not going to stop."